PublishAmerica's CEO compares himself and his company to Anne Frank

Letter from PublishAmerica's CEO: a Sunday thought April 29, 2012 Good morning! I was born in Amsterdam, not far from where Anne Frank hid in the Achterhuis, the secret annex in an office building that eventually wouldn't save her life. I first read her diary when I was her age, thirteen, on a Sunday morning. Born in 1929, Anne was a unusual gift to the world. If it hadn't been for her Nazi murderers she could still have been alive today at age 82. I named my own daughter Anne. My granddaughter's name is also Anne. They remind me each day of what the world's most famous Anne stood for. It's three things. One: what a talent! She wrote repeatedly that she wanted to become an author, and what a good author she was at the incredibly young age of thirteen, fourteen and fifteen. Whether or not it was due to the circumstances of maddening fear, hiding behind only a thin brick wall that separated her from enemy soldiers and police who night and day patrolled the streets to round up Jews, Anne produced profound thoughts and found crystal clear language to express them. Her daddy, the only family member to survive the war, was astounded by the depth of what his youngest daughter had entrusted to her diary (Anne: "Because paper has more patience than people.")that he had bought for her as a birthday present. Anne had always kept her thoughts to herself. Two: the hope and optimism. Anne, a young girl who grew up knowing that the world outside wanted to catch and kill her, wrote: "Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy." And: "It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart." And how about this from a confined young teen in permanent mortal danger: "Everyone has inside of them a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!" Three: unbelievably, publishers at first refused to publish Anne's diary when a historian, who happened to be a family friend of my mom and dad's, shopped it around. Or rather, there's nothing unbelievable about it. This sort of publisher's ignorance continues today, all the time. Harry Potter was famously rejected 12 times, Stephen King's Carrie 30 times, John Grisham 28 times, Chicken Soup for the Soul 140 times, and the list goes on longer than this Sunday can count. When my own dad passed away almost two decades ago, I found in his desk five single-space typed manuscripts that he had written and never talked about. All had been rejected by Amsterdam publishers. I never forget that Sunday morning when as a child I read Anne Frank's diary. And when I see my daughter Anne, and my granddaughter Anne, they remind me of that famous and tragic but posthumously oh so accomplished Anne who inspired me when we launched PublishAmerica. Talent is precious. Talent is vulnerable. Talent must be encouraged and given a chance to LIVE, at all times. It was our act of hope and optimism, and of stubborn determination: to make sure that if it's up to us, not a single talented writer, of any age, is ever again denied the opportunity to be published without fighting the obstacle of publishers' arrogance and ignorance. We knew we would catch some flak for it. Yikes, no editorial gatekeepers! And: they'll publish just about anyone! Exactly! That's our mission. And here's what drives the old guard, the same ilk that at first didn't think Anne Frank's diary was worth publishing, absolutely nuts: it's free! I'll tell you what: that feels good! Have a truly beautiful Sunday! --Willem Meiners Reserve a spot for your own book on Willem's future Letters-from-the-CEO; go to www.publishamerica.net/ service/Willem.html. Have your book reviewed for tens of thousands of people to see, or talk into the open mic! You can read this letter also online here: www.publishamerica.net/ ceo042912. All previous letters are here: www.publishamerica.net/ ceoarchives.